There certainly will be no summer doldrums for the Contact Center Solutions Community. As the events of this past week highlight, whether it be new capabilities, expansions of facilities to better accommodate growing demand for services, or insights into industry trends, our community is hot as the season we in the northern part of the world are in.
While not typically the starting point for news, recognition actually is the lead-off this week. In fact, community host Interactive Intelligence was named among Network World's Fave Raves, a list of favorite products voted on by IT professionals. Also getting recognition this week was Connect First who made the Colorado Companies to Watch list. And, Datapipe was singled out for a Stevie Award for superior customer service-chosen from over 3000 nominees.
If you will indulge me for a moment, before getting to other news, I wish to point out my piece, Omni-Channel? A Definition of Terms Please! The reason is that the tech industry has a nasty habit of coming up with new marketing terms that become all the rage, yet does so without providing the necessary clarity as to what the term means. “Omni-channel” is the hottest new one in our space, and we all need to be careful in how it is used so that not only is clarity provided but expectations are properly set.
As noted, there were new capabilities announced or released this past week that made news. They included:
There are important industry insights to be gained from two recent studies. Outsourcing forms a critical lever for integrated services states a new study by independent outsourcing industry analyst firm, HfS Research. It found that one in four buyers are reinvesting heavily in their global shared services operations, with seven out of ten continuing to make investments in their outsourcing delivery.
A recent study of U.K. insurance customers indicates the industry has fallen behind other nations in improving customer service. In a KPMG survey of 5000 users, U.K. customers responded with a significantly lower satisfaction level regarding customer service improvements over the past twelve months. Just 16 percent of respondents report improvement, a number that falls to 13 percent of life insurance customers. Comparatively, 39 percent of customers in China reported improvements in the past twelve months.
IBISWorld, a firm that specializes in industry and procurement research, is out with a new report detailing the changing nature of how customers are purchasing helpdesk and contact center software as the cloud continues to gain traction.
A few odds and ends close out the week’s news. This included PSCU is a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based provider of payment processing, strategic consulting, mobile applications, analytics solutions, fraud management and contact center services to over 800 U.S. credit unions, announcing the opening of a new a new contact center facility in Allen Park, MI. And, from our Wheelings & Dealings side of things, LaSalle Capital, a private equity firm with extensive experience in the lower middle market, has acquired Minneapolis-based Avtex Solutions, a provider of integrated customer experience technology solutions, from Marquette Companies, a part of the Pohlad Companies.
Weekend Reading
As always I wish to remind everyone that our recently re-designed home page is your gateway to valuable information and resources that is constantly updated with new eBooks, whitepapers, videos, demos, etc. And, check out our affiliated channels — Accounts Receivable Management, Business Process Automation, CaaS, Cloud-based Contact Centers and Insurance Technology — for news and insights on specific area of interest.
Finally, in case you missed it, you should by all means register to hear the archived copy of the June 24 webinar, “Business Process Automation Best Practices For Improving Customer Complaint Resolution.” While it will be archived, by all means take advantage of this chance to ask the experts about your specific challenges.